Encomium over Nigeria-Italy Flight Route

Chinedu Eze

There was a time Alitalia, which has metamorphosed in many ways, had Lagos as its regular route.

At a point in time it was Lagos to Rome flight via Kano. That was about 10 years ago. But in 2021, the bankrupt airline operated its last flight after 74 years and transmuted to Italia TrasportoAereo (ITA).

Air Italia had brief romance with the Lagos route but since the last eight years, there has not been direct passenger flight between Nigeria and Italy.

Then comes Neos Airline, privately owned Italian commercial airline headquartered in Somma Lombardo, Lombardy that operates largely Boeing B737 and Boeing B787 aircraft to over 73 scheduled domestic, European and intercontinental destinations.

By the end of October, the airline would begin flight service between Lagos and Malpensa, Milam and would kick off with one weekly flight and later three weekly flights.

Partnering with Sky Master, which will handle its operations in Nigeria, Neos Airline will rekindle that connectivity that brought Nigeria and Italy together because there is a huge Nigerian community in Italy.

Many travel observers believe that the airline will fill a vacuum left by other airlines that operated direct flight between Nigeria and Italy, noting that there are many Nigerians in Italy who are yearning to have a direct flight between the two countries. They also observed that the new entrant would make flights to Europe more competitive, which would drive down the fares.

A senior media executive whose family lives in Sardinia, Italy, told THISDAY that it had been very stressful connecting flights through other hubs to Italy, but with direct flight, it would be easier to travel between Nigeria and Italy.

“I think the last direct flight I made to Italy from Nigeria was with Air Italy and that was in 2015, I think, but subsequently I was travelling with other airlines from other countries to connect flights to Italy. I have travelled with Turkish Airlines, Air Maroc, Etihad and Qatar Airways, but Lagos to Doha is eight hours; then three hours layover and another six hours to Rome and from Rome almost two hours to Sardinia. That is very stressful.

“But with this new flight, it will take six hours to Malpensa, Milan and you drive to Linacre airport and connect to Sardinia. That’s a better option. So, we are happy the two countries will be connected directly again,” he said.

Looking at the potential passenger traffic on the route, the former President of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA), Susan Akporiaye, told THISDAY that Neo Airline’s entrant into the Nigerian market would boost competition on the Nigeria-European destinations.

“It has opened up the European market and created more option; so, it will have to compete with Air France, KLM, Lufthansa and this will drive down the prices. Also, price will be a determining factor. Of course, there will be initial skepticism at the onset but they will be fine in the long run. They should start off with very good service,” she said.

The current NANTA President, Mr. Yinka Folami, spoke in the same vein, saying that Neos Airline will survive on the Nigerian route, noting that air travel is about connectivity; that people come from different parts of the country to travel from Lagos to international destinations; so, the airline operating between Lagos and Milan will garner travellers to Italy and other destinations in Europe.

“There will be a market for the airline in Lagos because people come from everywhere to travel out of Lagos, but Neos will have to open connection routes to UK’s Gatwick or Heathrow Airport and US’s JFK Airport, New York and Toronto Airport, Canada. If the airline has good price they will get the passengers, but their success will be largely driven by their service. With good flight experience, the passengers will use the word of mouth to spread their good service to others,” NANTA President said.

Travel expert and organizer of Akwaaba African Travel Market, Ambassador Ikechi Uko, also said that Neos Airline has added more options on Nigeria-European destinations and shorten the distance between Italy and Nigeria, as travellers to the European nation will not go to another hub before they go to Italy; except they want to.

Sky Master Managing Director, Princewill Ogbonna, expressed optimism about the flight service, knowing that there is already existing vacuum in the market, which the airline hopes to fill with efficient and competitive service. He told THISDAY in an interview that the airline operates from one West Africa destination and majority of the passengers in the flights are Nigerians, just as Nigerians constitute the larger load factor in most of the flights out of West Africa, especially Togo and Ghana.

“Nigerian’s are making other people rich and we are treated poorly. That is one of the reasons why we are starting with a strategic way of flying so that we don’t make mistakes. That is why we worked with Neos to design a strategy. Start with a 737 once a week, taste the waters and be able to encourage people to know what we have come to do. Then from the second month, we will increase to three flights a week,” Ogbonna explained why Sky Master is working with Neos Airline and expressed the determination of the airline to partner with genuine travel agents who will help to market the carrier to Nigerians.

“We want the best in the system. We want genuine travel agents to be able to sell our tickets. And also we want to be sure that the government taxes are remitted to the government directly. Not where passengers pay taxes and they are not remitted. People come with several types of technology and at the end of the day, airlines are not making the money and government is not getting their fair share and passengers are paying. That is the reason we are robustly pushing that the best system is adopted to be able to enable carriers to see their money, government gets their taxes and the passengers get the service,” he said.

The Sky Master boss said that in Neos operations in Nigeria, the airline would take one step at a time, describing the airline as a budget friendly flight operations, “where even the middle class and the low class who wants to fly can fly.”

 He also disclosed that the airline is planning for cargo too because a lot of business is going on between Italy and Nigeria.

“We are looking at cargo arrangements but we are not jack of all trade. We want to be able to capture things that are relevant and are what we do and what we sell in respect to that. We are also working at expanding our relationship with other airlines going to the US and South Africa,” he said.